Return of Iljimae sold to Japan

Return of Iljimae hasn’t started airing yet (it kicks off next week), but it’s been sold to Japan for $1.32 million (that’s $55,000 per episode, 24 episodes total).

A production company rep explains that the series was sold after buyers saw a mere 10-minute selection of highlights.

Pre-sale of a series to Japan or other Asian countries isn’t that unusual for very anticipated series (like East of Eden or A Star’s Lover), but what I find odd is that unlike those other series, Return of Iljimae doesn’t feature any big actors — the leads (Jung Il-woo, Yoon Jin-seo) are relatively new even in Korea, not to mention internationally. The supporting cast is more experienced (Kim Min-jong, Jung Hye-young), but they’re not at a carry-a-show-with-my-fame level. Furthermore, it’s a Korean historical drama without flashy fusion tricks.

The prodco rep said that for these reasons, the sale was a happy exception from the rule (of how series are usually exported with big names, big ratings, or flashy premises). I’m choosing to look at this as a positive sign for the series. (*fingers crossed*)

Return of Iljimae is MBC’s next Wednesday-Thursday drama and begins on January 21.

January 13, 2009 at 2:19 PM

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$55.000 ?

Honestly... I thought this is pretty cheap. I don't want to know what an episode of any silly US show costs when sold oversee... sometimes a single actor gets more then $100k (or even more) per episode already there.

January 13, 2009 at 5:52 PM

Ehhh . . . from the previews, the fusion element is pretty strong in this one too (retro-70s cop music, flying bits, etc.) It's just not as smirky as Hong Gil Dong or campy/cartoony as The Dark Iljimae.

Part of me is holding out for a Damo-style drama. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing Kim Min Jong once again onscreen.

"i knew every company looking for money
but MBC they even left their quality For money"

The international sales subsidize the costs of big budget projects. A lot of big projects simply couldn't be done without the expansion of the market. On occasion, certain projects are actually made mostly for the international market, and their airing is almost like an obligation. Star's Lover. Bad Love. So on.

January 13, 2009 at 9:10 PM

January 13, 2009 at 11:18 PM

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"why mbc so copycat ?"

Not really a copycat per se. Both Iljimae projects were announced at around the same time. MBC had already done an Iljimae in the mid-90s, so this was viewed as a remake. SBS Iljimae barely has to do with the original story.

January 15, 2009 at 9:30 AM

March 8, 2009 at 8:48 PM

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looking back to this article, after watching so far into the frama, I think it was a great idea to share this art with Japan-which also took part in the shaping of iljimae and the overall cinemography!